Eat them, poison them, and use scent to drive them to cannibalism - as a second wave of locusts threatens to devour East Africa’s crops, scientists in a Nairobi lab are experimenting with novel ways to kill them.
So scientists at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) are experimenting with biopesticides and the use of locusts as human and animal food as they look for environmentally-friendly extermination methods.
ICIPE researchers were a part of a group that discovered an isolate from a fungus, Metharizium acridum, could kill locusts without harming other creatures.
ICIPE scientist Baldwyn Torto’s research has mostly focused on locust smells and pheromones.
ICIPE is developing nets and backpack-vacuums to capture large numbers of locusts.
